“Broken” LeBlanc top build hit with emergency nerfs ahead of Worlds 2023

LeBlanc has been a balance nightmare through the later half of League of Legends Season 13, and, though some heavy nerfs to Statikk Shiv were through to have brought her back in line, a new top lane build has made her an even more meta-dominant pick. However, she’s getting hit with some emergency nerfs.

One of LeBlanc’s greatest weaknesses as a champion was her ability to clear waves quickly and efficiently in the early to mid game. Though she was able to rotate quickly, she’d often lose out on farm for doing so due to her inability to shove out waves, thus making her a high-risk/high-reward pick that relied on pressuring her opponent out of the lane if she wanted to dominate the map.

However, the re-introduction of Statikk Shiv into League of Legends gave LeBlanc the wave clear she needed. Along with Night Harvester being able to proc on Shiv in the patch the item was added, LeBlanc was at the top of the meta.

Since then, Shiv has been nerfed numerous times and is a shell of its former self from a few patches ago. However, even then, a new top lane build still abuses the item and seems stronger than the build that thrust LeBlanc into the mid meta.

AD LeBlanc dominates top lane on Worlds 2023 patch

League of Legends patch 13.19 will be the patch Worlds 2023 is played on, and it didn’t have any nerfs to LeBlanc in the early notes. While it’s true that the pick is still emerging in the meta rather than currently dominating it, it hasn’t kept pros in top lane from abusing her ahead of the patch.

While it’s taken some time to nail down a build with DFM’s Yuta ‘Yutapon’ Sugiura being one of the first pros to try and make it work, a build has finally been solidified for the pick that seems to be wreaking havoc in solo queue.

KT Rolster’s Kim ‘Kiin’ Gi-in is a player known for being able to play almost anything in top lane, and it’s been no different with LeBlanc. Here’s a peek at how he builds the champion.

probuildstats

Kiin’s build here is the standard build that’s been settled upon amongst pros, although there is some variation. Runes are Precision with Fleet Footwork, Presence of Mind, Legend: Alacrity, and Cut Down, with Cut Down being replaced by Coup de Grace depending on matchup. Kiin went Resolve secondary here, but he’ll swap to Sorcery for some bonus damage when needed.

Build goes Shiv, Trinity Force, Stormrazor, Rapid Firecannon and a tank item. However, some other pros like Cloud9’s Ibrahim ‘Fudge’ Allami have been seen building Hullbreaker third, making her an unkillable sidelane menace.

LeBlanc one-trick streamer Bobqin warned everyone about how the build was going to get “abused” at Worlds 2023.

Fortunately, Phreak has quickly responded and announced that LeBlanc will be getting nerfed on the Worlds 2023 patch after all. On top of that, Shiv will be getting yet another nerf, a change that may end up killing the item ahead of the international championship.

LeBlanc’s base AD and mana pool will be getting some nerfs, with buffs to her AP ratios to compensate for the nerfs and hopefully allowing for her to be played in mid lane. LB is a fun champion to watch, after all, and Riot likely want to keep her strong enough to be a viable pick without having her present in every match.

However, with the nerf’s numbers finally out in the wild, this may be enough to kill the champion entirely. She’s getting heavily nerfed in the next patch.

LeBlanc gutted on League patch 13.19

It took a while to get the final numbers on LeBlanc, but, now that the nerfs are here, it’s safe to say they may be substantial enough to keep her from getting played at Worlds 2023 altogether.

Patch 13.19 brought nerfs to her and Statikk Shiv. While she was given a few light buffs in getting her AP ratios propped up to make up for the drastic nerfs to her base stats, the base stat nerfs are beyond the scope of just her top lane build.

Here’s the full change list that affects LeBlanc:

LeBlanc

Base Stats

• Attack Speed Ratio: 0.625 ⇒ 0.4
• Attack Speed Growth: 1.4% ⇒ 2.2%
• Attack Damage Growth: 3.5 ⇒ 2.7
• Mana Growth: 55 ⇒ 25
• Mana Regeneration Growth: 1 ⇒ 0.8

W: Distortion

• AP scaling: 60% ⇒ 65%

E: Ethereal Chains

• AP scaling: 30% ⇒ 35%

Statikk Shiv

• Electroshock minion damage: 200 ⇒ 150

Not only has Shiv taken yet another hit, but LeBlanc’s base stats have been drastically nerfed. Her mana scaling has been essentially cut in half, making it so that anyone who doesn’t build mana-focused items on her will be heavily punished. Additionally, her level 1 attack speed is incredibly low, affecting her ability to CS and trade in lane early regardless of her build.

Now it’s less of a question of whether or not we see LeBlanc top at Worlds 2023 and more of a question about whether or not we see her at all.